Stephen A. Gravatt, Esq.
Attorney
565 NJ 35
Middletown, New Jersey 07748
Cellphone no.: (732)-337-7922
Email: pipking@comcast.net
Aggravated Assault Auto – Criminal defense attorney defends charged with aggravated assault by auto |DWI-DUI.
As an experienced criminal defense attorney it has been my experience that most adult drivers have a general understanding that if one ingests a few alcoholic drinks and/or a few opiate pills and gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle on a public road, one could potentially have exposure, if convicted, for DWI-DUI. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 makes it a Title 39 driving offense to operate a motor vehicle on the public roads of New Jersey while intoxicated by either intoxicating liquors or hallucinogenic drugs, prescribed or recreational.
Many adult drivers do not understand one’s exposure if while one is operating his/her vehicle while intoxicated (impaired) by excessive alcohol consumption or by drug ingestion, one’s motor vehicle collides with another object under circumstances in which any of the occupants of any vehicle involved in the collision sustains serious bodily injury or bodily injury. As an experienced criminal attorney I know that when an impaired driver operates his or her motor vehicle so as to cause it to collide with that of another and the collision causes the occupants to sustain serious bodily injury, the driver can be charged with the commission of a crime (in addition to DWI or DUI) known as aggravated assault by auto.
WHAT IS AGGRAVATED ASSAULT BY AUTO (WHEN CHARGED IN CONJUNCTION WITH) DWI OR DUI?
A person is guilty of assault by auto if he/she drives a vehicle or vessel recklessly and causes either serious bodily injury or bodily injury. Driving while intoxicated or impaired is prima facie reckless conduct. Attorneys know that where DWI or DUI is proven and an impaired driver’s conduct results in serious bodily injury defendant has exposure for criminal prosecution.
WHAT IS CRIMINAL RECKLESS OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE?
Criminal aggravated assault by auto can be distinguished from the traffic ticket version of reckless driving under N.J.S.A. 39:4-96. N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(c) is an indictable criminal offense because adding the element of knowingly operating a motor vehicle while impaired heightens the degree of recklessness the driver has decided to engage in.
The legal basis for criminalizing this conduct is that if the actor knew (before entering his/her vehicle) he/she was unable to safely operate his/her motor vehicle because he/she was impaired and got behind the wheel of a vehicle knowing there was an increased likelihood of a motor vehicle accident thereby, the act would be considered to be at least reckless, i.e., a deliberate disregard for a known risk of harm, bodily injury, serious bodily, death, etc… The lawyer representing a defendant charged with aggravated assault by auto must strive to show that defendant’s decision to operate his motor vehicle was less reckless than alleged.
One need not have actually been at fault for the manner in which the collision occurred. One need only be impaired by alcohol or drugs and involved in a motor vehicle accident in which any involved party sustains “serious bodily injury”.
So one element of this offense the driver’s level of impairment. The greater the level of impairment, the greater the likelihood that the driver knew or should have known, that it was dangerous to others around him/her to operate a motor vehicle under such circumstances. This is where a good criminal defense attorney can really help. By challenging the reliability of any breath test results or lab report findings, an attorney might be able to successfully suppress that blood alcohol content BAC from being admitted into evidence on grounds that due to Alcotest machine error it is unreliable. Attorneys often retain expert witnesses to establish machine error or police procedural error.
A second element of this offense that a lawyer must scrutinize is the level of injury one causes to occupants of any of the motor vehicles and/or pedestrians involved in the motor vehicle accident. The task of an attorney with regard to this element is to play with the standard of bodily injury versus serious bodily injury in an effort to obtain a downgrade to the charges.
WHAT IS MY EXPOSURE (PUNISHMENT) IF CONVICTED?
The offense is graded as a fourth degree crime if the operator of the motor vehicle is legally impaired and “bodily injury results”. The driver’s criminal exposure if convicted, would be a monetary penalty up to $10,000.00 plus up to eighteen (18) months possible jail time plus a criminal conviction/record for the aggravated assault. For the DWI-DUI there are additional penalties as follows. Monetary fines of not less then $500.00 nor more than $1,500.00 plus driver’s license suspension for not less than 7 months not more than 10 years, plus possible jail time of mot less than 30 days nor more than 180 days plus Intoxicated Driver’s Resource Center for not less than 12 hours nor more than 48 hours plus installation of the interlock device on your motor vehicle.
The offense is graded as a third degree crime if the operator of the motor vehicle is legally impaired and “serious bodily injury results”. The driver’s criminal exposure exposure if convicted, would be a monetary penalty of up to $15,000.00 plus up to five (5) years possible jail time plus a criminal conviction/record for the aggravated assault. For the DWI-DUI there are additional penalties (discussed above).
The offense is graded as a second degree crime if the operator of the motor vehicle is legally impaired and “serious bodily injury results” from operation on any school property within 1000 feet of a school zone, while driving through a school crossing, while driving through a school crossing knowing that juveniles are present if the municipality has not designated the school crossing as such by ordinance or resolution. The driver’s criminal exposure if convicted would be a monetary penalty of up to $150,000.00 plus mandatory jail time of not less than five (5) years nor more than ten (10) years plus a criminal conviction/record for the aggravated assault. For the DWI-DUI there are additional penalties (discussed above).
DO I HAVE ANY DEFENSES?
An experienced criminal defense attorney knows that defenses to this offense stem from impairment levels and from injury levels. If the State cannot prove impairment beyond a reasonable doubt due to readings suppressed for machine error or police procedural error then the motor vehicle accident should be downgraded to just a simple DWI-DUI plus a careless driving traffic ticket.
DO I NEED AN ATTORNEY OR LAWYER TO DEFEND ME IF CHARGED WITH THIS OFFENSE?
Yes. I would recommend it. This is a serious indictable criminal offense for which, if convicted, possible jail time plus loss of driving privileges plus substantial monetary penalties plus a criminal conviction can be imposed at conclusion of the sentencing hearing. An experienced criminal defense attorney is needed to help reduce exposure.
If you have been charged with DWI-DUI and Aggravated Assault By Auto, I can help you possibly avoid conviction, imposition of monetary fines, jail time, criminal record. Please contact me for your free initial consultation and a no nonsense discussion about how I can help you.
Stephen A. Gravatt, Esq.
(732)-337-7922
www.njdwicriminaldefenseattorney.com
